After struggling to find a rhythm in the first period, the Stony Brook hockey team scored four unanswered goals Friday night at Sky Rink in New York City to power past NYU 6-2.
The Violets, who entered the contest with a 5-1-1 home record, stuck with the Seawolves through the first 20 minutes, erasing Seawolves leads on two separate occasions.
“I give credit to NYU,” head coach Chris Garofalo said. “They came out flying and they were ready to go. They played a simple game but a very aggressive game at the same time. I think it was a combination of last weekend’s game not being as competitive and the rink itself was just small.”
The adjustment to playing on a narrower rink took a toll on Stony Brook in the beginning of the game. The team had difficulty controlling the puck and moving the puck out of their own end, resulting in a pair of goals against sophomore goaltender Richard Shipman.
“I think the first period was a little shaky [for Shipman] but the team in front of him was just as shaky,” Garofalo said. “I don’t think we supported him. He faced 16 shots in the first period and if you keep that pace it’s almost 50 shots. I think it was not so much Shipman, but it was more the team in front of him.”
Shipman and his defensemen tightened their game in the second and third periods, denying NYU any additional goal on 22 shots in the final 40 minutes of play. The game remained tied at two until the 18:24 mark of the second period, when senior forward Brendan Calello scored on the power play.
“The puck was deep in our zone,” Calello said. “Our goalie, [Shipman], scooped it up and passed it up to [senior defenseman Frank Sherding]. He bank-passed it off the wall and I just grabbed it in the neutral zone, took a couple of strides, and shot it as hard as I could.”
Calello found the back of the net twice in the game, extending his team-leading points total to 21. He has now scored five goals in his past three games.
“I think toward the end of the semester everyone’s giving their hardest,” Calello said. “We’re starting to get the chemistry going finally at the end. We just want to finish up strong and finish with the best record we can.”
The Seawolves headed home to The Rinx in Hauppauge for the back half of their home-and-home with the Violets Saturday at 8:30 p.m, winning 4-0 for their fourth-straight victory.
“The reality of it is that we understand this is not a walk-over team,” Garofalo said. “Even though they’re ranked 30th, they’re better than a 30th ranked team. They all know this was a battle and if a few more pucks bounced their way, this is a different game. We talked about that and I said ‘Empty the tank tomorrow night because we have five weeks off. Empty the tank.’”
